Kaiden Diavolo

One year ago I packed up and waved good-bye to Second Life….or at least I thought.

Like so many people, I had no intentions of looking for love when I entered SL. It was an escape from a relationship turned sour and a life in a downward spiral.

Not sure what it was that pushed me to sign up for Second Life but once I did, I dug in eagerly. 4 ½ years ago, I arrived in Second Life: this fantastic world where just about anything was possible – a living, thriving social network. For me, Second Life was a place to escape from a failing relationship, familial frustrations and the general downward spiral feeling of my life.

I practically rezzed at a club and from there the dear Bellagoth Zanzibar took me under her wing and we became instant best friends. Though only a day older than me, she was an expert in my eyes, showing me all the places to shop and dance and fabulous sims to visit. And we spent endless hours together dancing and shopping and she even got me my first SL job. I shopped, drank, played greedy and and danced my heart out at the clubs night after night, meeting so many wonderful people; I swore I could never leave this place.

Barely 2 months into my Second Life experience, I met him – Mark Draconia. To quote Hotel Transylvania “we zinged” (I’ve been watching that a lot lately sorry). There was this instant connection and somehow I knew he would be a part of my life. We quickly became fast friends although there was always that hint of something more. Of course life is ironic that way ya know? The 5 ½ years of work put into my current relationship seemed to be all for naught so I essentially gave up on love finding me again. It was at that point, the one when I decided I was done dating and done with love that he came into my life. For months I tried to ignore it, deny it, even fighting tooth and nail against it but love is powerful stuff and it ended up winning me over.

My SL took on a whole new dimension. Mark gave me a new reason to look forward to logging in each evening. He brought a light into my life that had long ago disappeared or so I had thought. A year after we met he proposed in SL and the following June we were married.

2 1/2 years later, I packed up and hauled everything halfway across the country to be with the man I met online. And I didn’t think I’d be logging on to SL again or at the very least not on a regular basis, but then again how could I possibly walk away from the amazing network of friends I had here?